February???!!! I haven't updated since February? Wow.
Well, my apologies. Let me first catch you up on the pig adventure. Unfortunately, the person with whom I was working with to raise the pigs decided they wanted to take their pigs home. (We'd parted ways on a separate business venture, and that didn't sit well with them. So, they picked up their pigs and went to play alone at home.) This was actually a blessing in disguise, as the pain in my shoulder had been increasing by the day, and it was becoming too much for me. One pig was much easier on my aching body. We fed the pig out to about 200 lbs on whey and hay, and at that point introduced pig feed from a local mill. Two and a half bags of feed later, she had put on another 60 lbs and was ready for the butcher. We brought home 230 lbs of meat, and more in scrapple, liverwurst and lard. The meat is flavorful and dense, but not tough or gamey. We've decided that we'll do more 'winter pigs' in the future, as we are super happy with the cost (minimal) and the quality. Knowing how factory farmed pork is raised, and pork that is raised on local farms but on concrete pads, I am confident that a happy pig produces better meat. Our pig was handled gently, humanely and left to be 'a pig' while she was raised out. Even her loading onto the truck was done so gently that there was barely a grunt out of her. According to my online mentor and hero, Walter Jefferies, that makes for the best pork. Our adventure was a success, even better it tasted good. Pig had a good life (we called her pig), I learned a lot, and have yet another 'I can feed my family' experience under my belt. Want to know more about raising pigs? Follow Walter. He's king. Read more at Sugar Mountain Farm.
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